Spiker Leading the Pack Without Running in One

Who needs tough competition to run a fast time?

Certainly not Josh Spiker of Ventura High, who in the last two weeks has produced state-leading times this year in the boys’ 1,600 and 3,200 meters while running virtually by himself.

Spiker, a junior who placed 14th in the national cross-country championships in December, clocked a school-record and state-leading 4:12.19 in winning the 1,600 in the Channel League finals at Santa Barbara City College on Friday. That came a week after he ran a school-record and state-leading 9:08.48 in winning the 3,200 in the Ventura County championships at Royal.

Spiker won the 1,600 by 25 seconds and the 3,200 by 35 seconds.

“He can run fast when he’s alone,” Ventura distance coach Bill Tokar said of Spiker. “That’s something we discussed last year. We watched some [3,200] races where the leaders would come through the 1,600 in 4:34, but then run 4:40 for the second half when they started jostling for position in the pack . . . Josh has the ability to go after a time and get it.”

Spiker’s splits in the Channel League 1,600 were evidence of that. He clocked 60.9 seconds for the first 400, 2:04.5 at 800, and 3:09.0 at 1,200.

“We wanted him to come through the 1,200 in 3:09 and then see what he could do,” Tokar said. “He did that and then tacked on a 63-second last lap.”

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Matt Swaney, Spiker’s talented but lower-profile senior teammate, ran a career-best 9:28.65 in the 3,200 to finish second to Spiker in the Channel League finals, despite competing with a sore left hamstring that prevented him from running quality workouts the week before the race.

“The [hamstring] would start to pull on him if he ran anything faster than [83-second pace in a 400] in workouts,” Tokar said.

So how did Swaney average 71 seconds per 400 in the 3,200?

By working out in a pool in the days before the meet and by keeping a steady pace during the race.

“We knew we didn’t want him to get in a kick at the end of the race because of his hamstring,” Tokar said. “So we just tried to run [72-second 400s] from the start.”

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Lauren Fleshman of Canyon cruised to victories in the girls’ 800 (2:20.0), 1,600 (5:25.7) and 3,200 (11:40.6) in the Foothill League finals at Birmingham on Friday, but she hasn’t decided if she’ll attempt that triple in the Division II races of the Southern Section championships at Cerritos College on May 22.

Fleshman, runner-up in the national cross-country championships in December, and Canyon distance coach Dave DeLong have discussed trying to win an unprecedented three section distance titles, but Fleshman said she won’t make a final decision until after running in the Division II preliminaries at Mt. San Antonio on Saturday.

“I’m just going to play it by ear,” Fleshman said.

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Sophomore Anita Siraki of Hoover clocked 2:16.40 in the 800, a career-best 5:03.29 in the 1,600 and 10:57.94 in the 3,200 to win those events in the Pacific League finals at Arcadia High last Thursday, but she’ll run only in the 1,600 and 3,200 in the Division I preliminaries at Long Beach City on Saturday.

“We had talked about running all three races in the [Division I championships], but decided against it,” Hoover Coach Greg Switzer said. “Anita should win the 1,600 and 3,200 [in the Division I finals] and she could score heavily in the 800. You add [pole vaulter Bridget Pearson] and that would give us some serious points in the team race.

“But we ultimately based our decision on what was best for Anita in the upcoming cross-country season, and that was running in the 1,600 and 3,200.”

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Sophomore Jose Galeana of Littlerock was a notable absentee from the Golden League finals at Quartz Hill High on Friday.

Galeana, who won the 400 in the Northridge Invitational in March and ran a career best of 49.0 in a dual meet against Antelope Valley last month, suffered a strained hamstring two weeks ago and was unable to run in the league finals.

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Rio Mesa wrapped up the inaugural Pacific View League boys’ title with a 90-85 victory over host Camarillo in the league finals on Friday.

The Spartans’ margin of victory was less than expected after seniors Jerome Stevens and Kevin Mack didn’t compete in the shotput after failing to check in on time for the event.

Stevens and Mack were the top two competitors in the shotput.

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Jayda Bailey of Birmingham, the City Section champion in the girls’ 400 for Taft last year, appears to be down to her last chance at regaining her eligibility this season.

The section denied her athletic eligibility last week, but Birmingham Coach Scott King said Bailey might appeal that decision.

Bailey, who won the 800 for Taft in the 1997 City championships, transferred to El Camino Real in the fall before withdrawing near the end of the semester. She was enrolled in alternative schooling before enrolling at Birmingham last month.

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FAST TRACKS

When Blaine Bussey of Taft High ran 46.9 in the 400 meters in the Northwest Valley Conference track and field preliminaries at Birmingham on Friday, he moved to third on the all-time region list.

The following is a list of the top performers:

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Time Individual School Yr. 46.67 Quincy Watts Taft 1988 46.74c Ron Williams Chatsworth 1977 46.9 Blaine Bussey Taft 1999 47.11 *Andre DeSaussure Taft 1993 47.24 *Mentu Daniel Antelope Valley 1998 47.38 Matt Lea Camarillo 1998 47.49 *Ramsey Jay Ventura 1994 47.51c *Greg Peppers Birmingham 1979 47.56c Bill Hunt No. Hollywood 1975 47.61 Benji Green Kennedy 1984

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Times in hundredths are fully automatic. To convert hand times to fully automatic times, add .14 to hand times. c--time converted from a 440-yard mark. *--junior. Others are seniors.